Looking up at majestic Mt. Hood, from historic Silcox Hut, is a different point of view.

I never tire of shooting photos on the mountain. I do try, however, to change up where and how I capture images to add interest and variety. Utilizing elements in the foreground, and shooting from a variety of perspectives, is a good way to add dimension and give new life to subjects you shoot often. I hope to always be changing up the view on my home mountain.

Target shooter, flyfisherwoman, ecological director, gourmet and wine lover — that’s skyblu of A Step Apart. I would comment on her posts, but despite her talents, I can’t — she might be technically challenged.

I discovered a resource for photographers in which they can each submit and journalize their own photography, critique others’ work, discuss photography issues in a forum, and organize it all in themes and categories. It’s called trekearth.com, and its database of photographs is often exquisitely beautiful and captivating, as you can see by the fine capture of this wine-country dragonfly.

Created by Alan Silverman in October 2002, TrekEarth’s scope is to:

Learn more about the world through photography. TrekEarth fosters this by allowing photographers to display their work grouped by regions in a supportive and orderly environment. Since TrekEarth is globally oriented, it is completely multilingual-capable, allowing for the widest audience possible. Ultimately, TrekEarth depends on the civility, honesty and participation of its members.

I like the easy photo-browsing capability and the resolution of the many shots submitted from numerous far-flung locales around the world. If you enjoy photography, here’s a place where you can learn more about composition, light, contrast, lenses, and all of the other essentials that a photographer’s forum should offer. Enjoy!

A colleague at work, Mike, went away for a few days on vacation. With the usual manic activity going on in the office, I had been dimly aware of Mike’s remarking, before he left, “I’m going to climb Mt. Fuji.” I noticed he was back in the office the following week, but I hadn’t yet spoken to him before I found the following email message in my inbox:

“Hey, so what is the care/maintenance for a lost toenail from hiking?” –Mike

Mt. Fuji: a souvenir waiting to be discovered.

I decided to write him back…

“Assuming you actually found your toenail, Mike, you should carefully place it in a padded, velvet-lined oak box. Be sure to discard the bloody sock.”

…and received Mike’s reply:

“Ha-ha. Well, it sort of fell off on its own – mostly. The hike down Fuji was about 5 hours on lava fields and pumice stones, so bruised the nail badly. Now mostly just a gaping hole – been covering it w/ BandAids and Neosporin. Let me know if you think further steps need to be taken.

Good “hiking”. You should try it. –Mike

My reply:

“Good hiking indeed, by the sound of it. Also sounds like you are caring for it much the same way I would. But also take your vitamins, maybe take Echinacea to stave off infection.”

A day or two later I returned to my desk to find a chunk of dense and rather dried-out chocolate cake sitting there. Trouble is, it didn’t smell like chocolate cake. It didn’t smell like anything.

Then I got another email from Mike.

“Left you a souvenir at your desk; we were walking through drifts of that stuff on the way down.” –Mike

“Aw, MAN! And I thought it was leftover chocolate cake!! Wondered why it was so dry and hard to swallow. Tasted alright with lots of coffee, though.”

And that’s when Mike shared his incredible photography with me. As I admire the piece of fudge-colored pumice still sitting on my desk (every rock tells a story), I feel morally compelled to share Mike’s Mt. Fuji photo essay with you.*

*Note: Mike’s BlueYuki site was coded by Mike himself; according to Mike, it’s a work in progress. Therefore, after you click Enter, click the “Mt Fuji” folder to see photos of his spectacular climb. And “Lost Toenail” descent!

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